Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Royal Leamington Spa
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Royal Leamington Spa restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 31 restaurants in Royal Leamington Spa and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Royal Leamington Spa restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Royal Leamington Spa Restaurants
1. Lambs
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
12 Sheep Street - CV37
“Situated in a fine historic timbered house (one of the city’s oldest), Lambs of Sheep Street has been satisfying its customers for about a quarter of a century”, with “more of a feel of authenticity to it” than the many eateries in this tourist-trap town. The reasonably priced fare may be “a little predictable” but is reliably “pleasing” – and you won’t need to chase the “attentive” staff to make curtain-up at the nearby RSC.
2. Nuthurst Grange
British, Modern restaurant in Hockley Heath
Nuthurst Grange Ln - B94
A superb privately owned country house hotel, restaurant, conference centre & wedding venue, residing in the outstanding natural beauty of the Warwickshire countryside.The AA two rosettes restaurant provides a variety of menu options from a two course lu...
3. Sabai Sabai
Thai restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
19-20 Wood Street - CV37
Limited but good all-round feedback for this modern Thai restaurant – part of Torquil and Juree Chidwick’s Midlands-based small group (this is the only one outside Birmingham). Menu options include a pre-theatre deal, as well as a bottomless lunch option at weekends.
4. The Fuzzy Duck
British, Modern restaurant in Armscote
Ilmington Road - CV37
Within striking distance of Stratford upon Avon (about seven miles away), this boutique inn has been spruced up by Adrian and Tania Slater – the owners of Baylis & Harding – in ‘Contemporary Cotswolds’ style and offers pub classics (steak, chicken pie, fish ’n’ chips) alongside more brasserie-style items (e.g. tortellini, duck breast).
5. Loxleys
British, Traditional restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
3 Sheep St - CV37
“More of a bistro/wine bar, but with a reasonably varied and interesting menu” – this two-floor operation has “modern décor” contrasting with its historic location near the RSC, and wins consistent praise, “particularly the set menu which is very good value”. “Kind staff” help make it “a real local favourite”.
6. The Castle at Edgehill
British, Modern restaurant in Edgehill
Main Street - OX15
2022 Review: A dearth of feedback this year on this eye-catching landmark, which looks like a fairytale castle and occupies a striking position, with marvellous views over the countryside (and, for history anoraks, sits near a famous battleground from the English Civil War). Expect decent gastropub fare and a particularly cosy bar.
7. The Opposition
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
13 Sheep Street - CV37
“A great and very consistent local restaurant that always looks after you well” – this “cheap ’n’ cheerful” bistro near the RSC is well worth remembering if you are looking for a decent meal in this touristy town: “the food is excellent and pricing keen”.
8. La Coppola
Italian restaurant in Leamington Spa
14 The Parade - CV32
2023 Review: “A great surprise! An authentic Italian restaurant with a broad menu of very good food and wine” – “delivered with panache and generosity”. The “beautiful and romantic decor, with cherry trees garlanded with tiny lights” only adds to the appeal.
9. Oscars French Bistro
French restaurant in Leamington Spa
39 Chandos Street - CV32
2023 Review: “The epitome of the proper French bistro as you would have found in France 25 years ago”, owned by acclaimed butchers, Aubrey Allen. “Pascal the patron excels at providing excellent meat and fish dishes that are always reliable, and service is friendly even when they are packed!”
10. The Tame Hare
British, Modern restaurant in Leamington Spa
97 Warwick Street - CV32
2021 Review: “Pleasant and friendly” venue off the main drag: modern British dishes are “clearly made with both love and knowledge” in the semi-open kitchen, and “it’s good to interact with the chefs as they serve a course”; reasonable prices too.
11. The Moorings at Myton
British, Modern restaurant in Leamington Spa
Myton Road - CV31
2022 Review: It’s “nice to eat outside by the canal on a sunny day” at this well-run casual spot, with a useful menu of grills and sarnies.
12. Mallory Court
British, Modern restaurant in Bishops Tachbrook
Harbury Lane - CV33
2022 Review: The oak-panelled dining room at this Lutyens-style Relais & Château spa hotel makes a suitable setting for chef Paul Evans to showcase fresh produce from the hotel’s long-established kitchen garden. Long-serving chef-director Simon Haigh oversees the Eden hotel collection’s culinary offering from this flagship restaurant.
13. The Art Kitchen
Thai restaurant in Warwick
7 Swan St - CV34
2022 Review: Hilary & Barrie Cload's homage to Royal Thai cuisine (est. 2004) enjoys a “very pleasant” art gallery setting, and its “wonderful, beautifully presented” food just “never disappoints”; they also do a “great deal involving ‘lunch boxes’ which are delicious”.
14. Tailors
British, Modern restaurant in Warwick
22 Market Place - CV34
2022 Review: This former fishmonger, butcher, casino, tailor etc. is acclaimed by locals for its “perfect fine dining in an intimate setting”. After pandemic lockdowns, it’s “back with a subtle but impactful makeover and a great new tasting menu” – now the only option, and ringing in at £65 for six courses.
15. The Cross at Kenilworth
British, Modern restaurant in Kenilworth
16 New St - CV8
“In the Premier League of food pubs”, this “beautiful old building with a pleasant garden and an intimate atmosphere” offers highly ambitious “fine dining” food that’s both “delicious and prettily presented” from Adam Bennett, formerly head chef at the grand Simpson’s in Birmingham (a sister venue also owned by Andreas Antona). The cooking is “very well executed, while service combines the professional with the friendly”. “Prices are inevitably rising, but it’s always good value” and “still the local top restaurant” – “there’s nowhere else we prefer to go… after 125 visits and counting!!”.
16. Purnell’s Café & Bistro at Charterhouse
British, Modern restaurant in Coventry
Charterhouse Priory of St Anne, London Road - CV1
Only recently opened, in early 2023, ‘Yummy Brummie’ Glynn Purnell (operating in partnership with Historic Coventry Trust), launched this cafe and pizzeria in the cloisters of a Grade I-listed 14th Century former Carthusian monastery. “It’s similar to Purnell’s Plates in Birmingham serving delicious and very good-value small dishes, tapas style” and “the setting is beautiful – a spacious, modern and comfortable conservatory in this historic building in a lovely park on the outskirts of Coventry”.
17. Baraset Barn
British, Modern restaurant in Alveston
Pimlico Lane - CV37
2022 Review: With its “lovely setting (indoors or outdoors)” and “nicely priced menu” of dishes from around the world – including a selection of “fantastic” small plates to share – this 200-year-old country pub with a contemporary brasserie extension is a useful option near Stratford.
18. The Boot
British, Modern restaurant in Lapworth
Old Warwick Rd - B94
2022 Review: “A real gem in our local area” – this branch in the stylish, seven-strong Warwickshire-based 'Lovely Pubs' group has a lot to recommend it: “service is on the right side of friendly and very attentive”, they serve “great pub food, but restaurant quality” (including “fantastic seafood platters”), and if you stick to the main bar downstairs, there's plenty of atmosphere too.
19. The Crabmill
Mediterranean restaurant in Preston Bagot
2021 Review: “Much improved by a change of owners” (the all-conquering Brunning & Price), this seventeenth century pub in “beautiful surroundings” – a hamlet “out in Warwickshire’s lush countryside” – wins applause for “upmarket pub food at a reasonable price point”, and which comes “allied to lovely service” to boot.
20. The Vintner
British, Modern restaurant in Stratford upon Avon
4-5 Sheep St - CV37
This half-timbered town-centre fixture is useful for a “consistent offering” that includes “good-value lunch and pre-theatre menus”. “First ate here in the mid-80s with a Sixth Form school trip – it was good then and still is”.
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